The Shadow is Coming!
by Empress Nutter
Summary: The Shadow, a mysterious villain, has kidnapped Lord Greypaw's son. Now it's up to a rebel squirrelmaid to save him. Can Lanira finish her quest... or will the Shadow get her too? This is my first fanfic, I hope you like it! Rated T for predicted violence


**A/N: I do not own Redwall, Mossflower Woods, or Salamandastron. I did make up all the characters EXCEPT Martin the Warrior. **

**This is my first fanfic, Redwall or otherwise. Enjoy! Please review nicely, I like criticism, but not in a mean way. Thanks!**

It was a dark, dark night. The moon was barely as sliver and the wind whistled softly. All the squirrel tribes of Mossflower were sleeping soundly. All the little dibbuns of Redwall were curled up in their beds. The only beast awake for miles around was a shadow, crawling carefully up the side of the fire mountain, Salamandastron, home to many hares and a pawful of badgers. The shadow stopped climbing to peer into a window slit. Apparently dissatisfied with what it saw, the stealthy beast crawled upwards again. Finding another window, the shadow peered in and smiled malevolently. It squeezed through the slit in the rock wall, and looked around at the room inside. The cruel smile flashed again for a moment, and then the shadow disappeared into the gloom. Be warned - the shadow is coming!

* * *

It was a fine day for most abbeybeasts. Friar Mimsie and her hedgehog assistant Juddo were busy frying the fish Brother Hedger and Abbess Trill were fishing out of the pond. Other beasts were setting up tables or picking apples out of the trees to make Mother Trill's special giant apple-crumb pie. Dibbuns were skipping around, munching on the apples plucked out of somebeast's basket and jumping in the pond only to be fished out by Skipper Nora wielding a large net. 

Everybody was joyus and happy, except for one young squirrel in the cellar. Lanira Hazeltail was stuck missing the Autumn Feast. Lanira sighed and leaned back against a barrel of October Ale. "I just don't get it. I didn't even do anything that bad. Tucking in all the Redwallers' bedsheets the wrong way hardly calls for a day of missing the feast! It's not my fault the dibbuns went on a rampage because they couldn't sleep."

Sighing again, Lannie curled her tail around her slim body and fell asleep. She dreamed peacefully of a regal badger, about her age, and a mouse warrior. The mouse was dressed in armor and carried a familiar-looking sword, though Lanira couldn't figure out where she had seen that blade before. Then it hit her. The mouse was the legendary Martin the Warrior, gaurdian spirit of Redwall Abbey! Martin spoke, his voice deep and calm, like the stout rafters in the abbey attic.

"A mighty mountain in need of aid.

Perhaps you could help them, squirrelmaid.

Go now! Away to Salamandastron.

A message from me to you, 'Be strong!'"

* * *

Kirram woke up to a throbbing lump on his striped skull. The young badger looked around, his half open eyes trying to take everything in at once. He looked terrified and tried to scream, but it came out as a muffled grunt, due to the gag tied around his mouth. Then something moved in the dark corner of what seemed to be a passageway in the cave he was lying in. A shadow seemed to stealthily creep towards Kirram, so he squeezed his eyes shut and pretended to be asleep. The badger could feel the heat of the shadow's foul-smelling breath upon his face, and, unable to bear it any longer, Kirram opened his eyes and saw two glistening eyes staring back at him and a shiny, threatening smile. The rest of the face was hidden by the dark gloominess of the cave. Hoping whatever it was hadn't seen his eyes open, Kirram closed them tightly and held his breath. A voice, sounding menacingly sweet, spoke."Hello, my little treasure. I wonder how much your dear parents will give me to get you back." The voice laughed diabolically. "Perhaps they'll even hand over the mountain. Now that would be a real prize."

* * *

Lanira was running down the narrow path in Mossflower Woods. She barely remembered what had made her dash out of the feast and run southwest to Salamandastron, but she knew it was something important. Mother Triss didn't know what had happened, nor did anybeast other that Martin the Warrior and herself. Lanira stopped running, her lungs aching too much to go on. She slumped against a tree and fell asleep. A mouse warrior, instantly recognizable as the legendary Martin the Warrior, appeared and had only four words to say, echoing in the forest, "Take the right path... the right path... right path..." Lanira snapped awake, her energy suddenly replenished. She got up and started walking down the trail. Her feet were sore and cut, but Lannie kept walking, determined to get to Salamandastron even if it killed her. She had never been this far out in the woods before and had no idea of the dangers that lurked in its shadows. Soon, Lanira came to a fork in the trail. She stopped and debated in her mind which path to take. Her instinct told her to take the right, but logic and reasoning told her the left, for it was not as overgrown and it looked as if many travelers had walked that road. Then she remembered something taught to the dibbuns in Abbey School: Always trust your first instinct, because the more you thing about something, the more confusing it becomes. Thinking about the dibbuns made Lannie very homesick, and she found herself wishing she was back at Redwall. That was a strange thought for her, because all the time she had been at Redwall, she had wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere but the abbey, she had pleaded. Now, desiring to be back at her home, that thought seemed bizarre to her. A mouse's face appeared in her mind and brought her back to the forked paths. She hurried down the right trail, hoping Salamandastron was near.

* * *

**A/N: There's the first chapter, more to come soon! Hope you liked it. Please review constructively, don't be mean, thanks!**


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